Team:AshesiGhana/Implementation
Proposed Implementation
Our proposed end users are non-governmental agencies that are interested in protecting the coastline of the Ghana, Africa, and the world at large from further erosion and destruction, governmental institutions like Ghana's Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) that are interested in reducing the amount of plastic waste on shores, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using it in tandem with various policies that are being put in place to reduce the effects of coastal erosion and plastic pollution.
We envision our bioconcrete tetrapods being lined along the coast of coastal areas and villages in Ghana.
During the creation of these tetrapods, we envision owners of plastic waste collection agencies, as well as individuals interested in ridding the land of plastic waste, collecting, gathering, and washing their plastic. This plastic will then be shredded and mixed in with the sand and bacteria mixture before the tetrapods are formed.
We also envision the tetrapods being used for their beauty due to the bioluminescent characteristic.
We thought about the potential risks that our project could pose to the environment and to the people who touch and handle them. However, the risk posed by the engineered organisms to us and the environment are minimal as the organisms are non-pathogenic and already exist in the environment. In addition, the modifications we proposed (such as plastic degradation and biocementation) do not pose any health risks.